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Polyoxometalates (POMs) are considered as an attractive option for electrochromic energy storage (EES) system due to their unique electrochemical feature. Herein, a composite film NW/P2W17/Cu (phen)2 based on Dawson‐type monolacunary POMs K10P2W17O61 (abbreviated as P2W17) and copper complex [CuII (phen)2](NO3)2 (abbreviated as Cu (phen)2) formed on TiO2 nanowire (abbreviated as NW) array substrate was fabricated by hydrothermal process and layer‐by‐layer self‐assembly combination method. This rational designed film NW/P2W17/Cu (phen)2 exhibits excellent tunable multicolor electrochromic behavior and improved pseudocapacitive performance with large optical modulation (43.7% at 600 nm), fast switching time (tc = 2.9 s, tb = 9.5 s), and high volumetric capacitance (228.0 F cm−3 at 0.3 mA cm−2). In the process of charge and discharge, the composite film can realize the transformation from light green to orange, green, and finally to blue‐green color, successfully achieve the bridge between electrochromic behavior and energy storage, and monitor the level of stored energy by color change. This work showed great potential of POMs‐based electrode materials for integrated electrochromism and energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyoxometalates (POMs) demonstrate potential for application in the development of integrated smart energy devices based on bifunctional electrochromic (EC) optical modulation and electrochemical energy storage. Herein, a nanocomposite thin film composed of a vanadium-substituted Dawson-type POM, i.e., K7[P2W17VO62]·18H2O, and TiO2 nanowires were constructed via the combination of hydrothermal and layer-by-layer self-assembly methods. Through scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy characterisations, it was found that the TiO2 nanowire substrate acts as a skeleton to adsorb POM nanoparticles, thereby avoiding the aggregation or stacking of POM particles. The unique three-dimensional core−shell structures of these nanocomposites with high specific surface areas increases the number of active sites during the reaction process and shortens the ion diffusion pathway, thereby improving the electrochemical activities and electrical conductivities. Compared with pure POM thin films, the composite films showed improved EC properties with a significant optical contrast (38.32% at 580 nm), a short response time (1.65 and 1.64 s for colouring and bleaching, respectively), an excellent colouration efficiency (116.5 cm2 C−1), and satisfactory energy-storage properties (volumetric capacitance = 297.1 F cm−3 at 0.2 mA cm−2). Finally, a solid-state electrochromic energy-storage (EES) device was fabricated using the composite film as the cathode. After charging, the constructed device was able to light up a single light-emitting diode for 20 s. These results highlight the promising features of POM-based EES devices and demonstrate their potential for use in a wide range of applications, such as smart windows, military camouflage, sensors, and intelligent systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Minimally invasive reconstruction of the biliary tract is complex and involves multiple steps. The procedure is challenging and has been an essential technique in modern hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery in recent years. Additionally, the quality of the reconstruction directly affects long-and short-term complications and affects the prognosis and quality of life. Various minimally invasive reconstruction methods have been developed to improve the reconstruction effect; however, the optimal method remains controversial. Areas covered: In this study, were viewed published studies of minimally invasive biliary reconstruction within the last 5 years and discussed the current status and main complications of minimally invasive biliary reconstruction. More importantly, we introduced the current reconstruction strategies and technical details of minimally invasive biliary reconstruction, which may be potentially helpful for surgeons to choose reconstruction methods and improve reconstruction quality. Expert opinion: Although several improved and modified methods for biliary reconstruction have been developed recently, no single approach is optimal or adaptable to all situations. Patient-specific selection of appropriate technical strategies according to different situations combined with sophisticated and skilled minimally invasive techniques effectively improves the quality of anastomosis and reduces complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulating the thermal system configuration can improve the ramp-up rate of the coal-fired power plants during peak shaving transient processes, while it may bring penalties in the performance of the steam temperature control and thermal efficiency. This study simulated the load ramping up transient processes when throttling the extraction steam of high-pressure heaters. The results show that there is a gap between the needed energy and energy supply caused by drastic fluctuations of reheat steam flowrate. Control schemes of steam temperatures and fuel demands were revised considering the dispatch of the fuel and working medium. According to economic optimality, the order of throttling high-pressure heaters was optimized. By implementing the revised control strategies, the fluctuations of steam temperatures were diminished and the maximum deviation of live and reheat steam temperatures was reduced by 23.5 °C and 11.4 °C, respectively. The flexibility indicator was increased by up to double at most. The average standard coal consumption rate variations with and without the revised control schemes were compared and the maximum difference is 1.23 g kW−1 h−1 with 2.5 % Pe min−1. The flexibility and economic performance were both improved when adopting the revised control schemes. • Stored energy in the thermal system was utilized to increase the ramp-up rate. • Steam temperature deviation can be reduced by more than 50 % via optimizing control. • Optimal throttling schemes can benefit the energy consumption by 1.25 g kW−1. • Flexibility and efficiency are co-improved by adopting the revised control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preparation of functionally graded materials (FGMs) of (TiB2)pNi with an intermetallic compound media layer of Ni3Al and a substrate of nickel by field-activated pressure-assisted synthesis process (FAPAS) was investigated. Ni3Al was chosen as a layer of FGM for the first time due to its great deal of heat released during its synthesis from nickel and aluminium powder. The microstructure, phase composition of layers, micro-hardness and elemental concentration profiles across interfaces were characterized. The significant inter-diffusion of elements between layers showed the formation of good bonds. The measured micro-hardness values of the sample increased monotonically to more than 3 500 HK over a distance of 2 mm from the nickel substrate to the surface layer (TiB2)pNi. The results of this investigation demonstrate the feasibility of the FAPAS process for rapid formation of FGMs with good diffusion bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibrinogen is an important plasma protein composed of three polypeptide chains, fibrinogen alpha (FGA), beta, and gamma. Apart from being an inflammation regulator, fibrinogen also plays a role in tumor progression. Liver cancer usually has a poor prognosis, with chronic hepatitis being the main cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). FGA serves as a serological marker for chronic hepatitis, but its relationship with liver cancer remains unclear. Through bioinformatics analysis and agarose gel electrophoresis, we found that FGA was downregulated in HCC and correlated with tumor stage and grade. By constructing both FGA gene knockout and overexpression cell models, we demonstrated that overexpressing FGA inhibited migration and invasion of liver cancer cells through Transwell migration/invasion and wound healing assays. Western blotting experiments showed that FGA overexpression increased the expression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition marker protein E-cadherin while decreasing N-cadherin and slug protein expression. In addition, FGA knockout activated the PI3K/AKT pathway. In a mouse model of metastatic tumors, overexpression of FGA restricted the spread of tumor cells. In conclusion, FGA exhibits an inhibitory effect on tumor metastasis, providing new insights for the treatment of advanced HCC metastatic tumors.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to identify the potential mutation of epidermal growth factor receptor in nonsmall cell adenocarcinoma by noninvasive method, and to explore whether the same or better effect can be achieved using a small amount of single-mode PET image data., Method: A total of 115 patients were recruited and the results of their 18F-FDG PET images and gene detection after resection were obtained; 117 original radiation features and 744 wavelet transform features were extracted from PET images. Several methods were used to reduce the dimension of the data, and four classifier models were established to classify it. The above process was repeated to reduce the total amount of data and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value that changed with the reduction of the data and the stability of the results was recorded., Results: The classifier with the best comprehensive performance under this dataset was logistic regression, whose AUC value is 0.843. And similar results can be obtained from only 30 cases of data., Conclusion: A similar or better result could be achieved using a small number of single-mode PET images. In addition, significant results could be obtained using only the PET images of 30 patients., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)